Cold emailing is one of the best skills to have in 2021. Here, weāll cover what you should do to get your next internship or job. This document will be targeted towards tech and computer science students, but it can also be useful for students in other fields.
Why try cold emailing? It works. Weāve used these simple tips and techniques to land interviews at Microsoft, Google, Dell, and many more big tech companies. By emailing a recruiter with the right content at the right time, you can land first round interviews at these amazing companies, and more.
Smart people always check their emails. So, if they find value in yours, they will reply and take things forward. However, it all depends on your email ā which will be awesome after using the techniques discussed here.
Letās get started.
What is a cold email?
When you freeze your computer and send an email, itās called a cold email⦠Just kidding! A simple email to someone you donāt know is a cold email. You can email any random person on this planet and, if they like your email, thereās a high chance they will respond. This is how you build your network.
There are three parts of a cold email: the subject line, content, and value. The subject can be simple (nothing too fancy), but the content needs to be great. This will only work if you put in the work, you have the skills, and you are ACTUALLY very interested in what youāre emailing about.
So, for getting a design internship, you have to both show and tell about the amazing work youāve been doing. Itās likely that if you tell someone youāre just starting out and they should hire you as an intern, you will be ghosted. Donāt do that. Do your work, make something awesome, and then add it there. This takes us to the next part, which is the selling point.
Selling point
Whenever you are sending an email, you have to keep your selling point in mind. Why should they talk to you? What value do you bring? How hard have you worked? WHY YOU?
It is important to think of different things you can show off about yourself, since you only have about 6ā10 seconds to impress someone. Recruiters and managers are super busy, so itās crucial to consider the time frame and come up with something simple and catchy.
For developers, the selling point could be anything from a nice Github profile to a published project with actual users. It doesnāt have to be something crazy and you donāt have to be the best out there. Itās important to show that youāre working hard and actually building things.
Here are some examples of how you can use something your work to your advantage:
Project
Iāve been working on my app, which you can see here: Link. Iāve used the MERN (mongo, express, react, node) stack to develop this over the course of 3 months, and I can use these skills to my advantage if I get the internship opportunity.
GitHub
For the last 6 months, Iāve regularly updated my Github with multiple projects, coding questions, and class related stuff, which you can find here: Link. Most of these have been in react and node js, but Iām open to learning new things.
Hackathons
Iāve attended multiple hackathons in the last 6 months, creating over 4 mobile and web dev projects. You can find some of them on my Github here (Link), and I would be more than happy to share all more with you over a call or email.
Project
For the last 3 months, Iāve been working on a project called ā30 days codingā. Iām helping students prepare for coding interviews by compiling the best free resources out there. Weāve helped thousands of students land internships and jobs in the last 6 months.
Classes
Iām a student, and, for the last 6 months, Iāve taken 3 more classes than the average sophomore student. Not only this, Iāve earned Aās in all of them, and Iām continuing to work harder than before. Iāve also started gaining skills outside of school and would love to gain some more through the internship at your {company}.
Startup
Iāve been working with a startup called {name} where weāve created a dashboard to find cat cafes near your location. Weāve had thousands of users since then and we aim to grow even more in the future. The mobile app uses react native, and Iāve learned about navigation, routing, architecture, and other amazing things that can be done with react native.
Templates
Hereās a written sample:
Hey {recruiterās name},
{Intro}: Hope youāre doing well. Iām a Computer Science student at {college} and am really interested in the New-grad SDE position at Amazon.
{Work experience}
This past summer, I was an intern at {} where I developed a web app using MERN tech stack. Iāve enjoyed developing mobile and web apps before, some of which you can find on my Github here.
My skills include: Frontend, Backend, Full-stack, Mobile, and Web development. Iāve had 4+ internships before with 10+ open source projects under my name. Here are some of the useful links for more information: Github, Portfolio, LinkedIn, {skills and links}
{Ending message}
Iāve also attached my resume for your reference. Looking forward to hearing from you! Thank you.
Regards,
Name
Linkedin, linksā¦
Some important takeaways:
- Add your links wherever possible.
- Add skills that the company uses. This could be something generic like mobile and web dev.
Timing
Itās also important to time your emails. Here are some steps to follow
- Find the recruiter/managerās location.
- Schedule the email for the next working dayās morning.
Subject
Itās important to have a subject line and itās totally fine to keep it simple. Here are some examples:
- New grad 2021, Pinterest
- Software Engineer Intern 2021, Amazon
- College grad looking for New role
Including the recruiterās or managerās name would also make some difference. But, at the end of the day ,itās about what works for you. Try different things, see what works out, and then use that to succeed.
Sample Linkedin message
Hey! Iām a junior computer science student at UMass Amherst, and am looking for summer 2022 internships. I was an intern last summer at xyz and Iāve created abc or {something else here.}.
Please let me know if you can refer me for this position {link}. Iāve attached my resume for your reference.
Additional things you can add:
- Attach projects/links etc.
- Your leetcode stats
Resources
- 8 Cold Email Tips To Land Your Dream Job (With 3 Successful Examples)
- 8 Cold email templates
- How to write a cold email ā Data Science Career Map
How to write a cold email for job applications (with email templates) ā 2021 update